The Republican Years

The 1980s was a decade led by Republican thinking and policy. Ronald Reagan took office as president of the United States in 1980, and he served two terms, after which his vice president, George Bush, was elected to the nation's top office. Reagan held conservative political beliefs, both on the domestic front and when it came to foreign policy. Although his economic programs brought the national inflation rate down, they also seemed to favor the wealthy. During the Reagan era, many middle class Americans saw their personal income shrinking, while the richest of Americans increased their wealth.

By the 1980s, the cold war, led by superpowers the United States and the Soviet Union, had been ongoing for almost forty years. Reagan, an ardent opponent of communism, encouraged his administration to greatly increase military spending. As the United States and the Soviet Union built up a stockpile...